Snail Mail Collective Partners + Everyday Happy Giveaway!

First things first. We have the next Snail Mail Collective Pairings up and ready to go! We had over 155 people sign up this month! Each month I love reading about your partners, seeing your tweets and the general excitement over meeting someone new. After all, I believe that's what blogging is all about. Not the numbers, not the hope of blogger fame, but the inevitable friendships that are made from people that were once perfect strangers. Click on the link below to find out who your partner for this month is!

Pairings are at the bottom of this post. Please take a moment to read the rules of this program and to figure out what to do next: 

1. The theme for this month is 'Back to School'

2. You have 72 hours to communicate with your partner. If your partner does NOT respond within 72 hours, please e-mail Chelsea at lostintravelsblog@gmail.com to be re-paired by 11pm PST on September 13th. Re-pairing requests will not be taken after this time.

3. You have about two weeks to get to know your partner. After that, your package MUST be sent by September 22nd. 

4. Your gift(s) should total no more than $5. Think small, but meaningful. Also, all packages must include a postcard (preferable) or a letter to your partner. Motivate them, tell them all the beautiful things you learned about them this month, and make them feel special!

5. Once you receive your gifts, we highly encourage you to write a blog post about your experience. Share what you gave, received, and learned through participating in the Snail Mail Collective and meeting your new buddy. At the beginning of each month, we will hold a link-up on our blogs (The Nectar Collective & Lost in Travels) where you can share and link-up your SMC blog posts. This way, you can see how people around the world interpreted the theme, learn about other cultures, and meet even more new friends!!

6. We did our best to pair you with someone from a different country. If your partner is from the same country as you, then we tried to put you with someone from a different state or region. If you didn't get an international partner, we hope you understand and still have a blast building a friendship with someone new! That's what this is all about, right? 

Snail Mail Partners

If you didn't sign-up for this round, but want to participate next month, look out for next month's sign-up form which will be posted on The Nectar Collective and Lost in Travels on October 1st. We'd love for you to join us!

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And secondly....Happy Tuesday Everyone!!  Today is a day to really be happy.  Today, my friends and I have come together to support our friends' (Erika and Melyssa) new project Everyday Happy - an ecourse to finding your happy, everyday!  We are so excited for them, the course and the lives that they will be reaching that we couldn't NOT put together a GIVEAWAY for all our our lovely readers.  We realize that some people would love the opportunity to participate in this course with these amazing ladies who are the coaches of this course, but may not be able to afford it financially.  We're sending one of you to participate in e-course FREE OF CHARGE!  Check out these 10 Reasons why you should enter this giveaway!

Stephanie | Victoria | Erika | Kayli | Mal | Crystal | Chelsea | Amanda | Kenzie | Aukele

This giveaway could not have been possible without my amazing sponsors and lovely friends so please say hello to them and visit their blogs!!


Now on to the giveaway!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Rules:

1. Upon verification of winning and required entry, the winner will be
contacted within 3 days after the contest closes.

2. Winner must respond within 48 hours of the email, or another
winner will be chosen (please add 91dash@gmail.com to your address book).

3. This contest is open internationally.

Have an amazing day!!
Aukele

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Snail Mail Collective Round Three!

I can't believe it's already time for the Snail Mail Collective again! Last month we have over 160 people! Melyssa and I are over the moon excited at the growth of this project of ours. Thank you from the bottom of our package loving hearts for all of your support! We hope you guys have been enjoying it as much as we have been!

via

I just received my August 'Under the Sea' package the other day from my partner and I'm so excited about it! Her name is Daphne from the blog Life is Like a Triple Chocolate Cookie. She's an aspiring architect student in the Netherlands with her fiancé (they get married in May!) who makes the cutest cards in her spare time! I have loved getting to know her better and you should definitely check out her blog! 

And how cute is all this ocean stuff? I personally can't wait to try out the squeeze water toys with Zeke. He'll probably hate me for it but his reactions should be hilarious. 

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And now that's it's the first of the month again, it means a new month of Snail Mail Collective! Summer is whizzing by and Twitter and Facebook have been consumed with back to school photos. I have no desire to be back in the classroom as a student (I get enough 'classroom' experience as a teacher thank you very much) but what I do miss are the back to school supplies! Is it just me or does the school section of Target make anyone else want to load up on unnecessary crayons and notebooks?

That's why this month's theme is Back to School!

Your package could include notebooks and pens; organizational tools such as fun magnets or push pins; or you could even include some back to school basic from when you were in school. I'm sensing Smackers and Goldfish crackers for this one. Get creative with this one and have some fun!

Sign up here

New to the Snail Mail Collective?

It's an easy international package exchange. Aka, send a package, get a package. Our goal is to provide an avenue to connect and get to know people from all over the world by exchanging packages and encouraging postcards each month. This is a great way to not only meet people around the world, but to also learn about new cultures and make new friends! Interested in joining us? Read the rules below and let's get started!

Rules & Information

In order to participate in the Snail Mail Collective this September, please fill out this form. Filling out the form means you  commit to actively participating and following the rules below. 

1. You will be paired with one new person. We will do our best to make sure this person is from a different country, or at the very least, a different area of your country. We will strive for you to make international friends, but it's also nice to get to know the different parts of our own homeland.

2. Each month's gifts will have a theme. The theme for September is "Back to School" Get creative! Try to relate it back to your culture, if you can. 

3. Each month, we will be taking sign-ups until 22:00PST on the 7th day of the month. After that, the pairings will be posted on our blogs on the 9th or 10th of the month. Please check Lost in Travels or The Nectar Collective to find out who you're paired with.

4. You will have 72 hours to contact your partner (both partners must communicate together). If your partner does not respond within 72 hours, please e-mail Melyssa or Chelsea.

5. You will have about two weeks to get to know your partner. After that time, your gifts must be sent by the 22nd of the month.

6. Gifts: Your present(s) should not total more than $5. We want this project to be affordable for you, so think small, but meaningful. Also, all packages must include a postcard (preferable) or a letter to your partner. Motivate them, tell them all the beautiful things you learned about them this month, and make them feel special! We could all use a little encouragement, especially from our new friends.

7. Once you receive your gifts, we highly encourage you to write a blog post about your experience. Share what you gave, received, and learned through participating in the Snail Mail Collective and meeting your new buddy.

8. On the 1st of each month, we will hold a link-up on our blogs (The Nectar Collective & Lost in Travels) where you can share and link-up your SMC blog posts. This way, you can see how people around the world interpreted the theme, learn about other cultures, and meet even more new friends! 

An InLinkz Link-up

Snail Mail Collective August Sign Up!

It's the first of the month! You know what that means! It's time to share your Snail Mail Collective Packages and link up below! If you're new to the game here's the gist: sign up below to get partnered up with a new friend. Spend two weeks getting to know them through their blog and emails. Send each other a small ($5) but meaningful gift and postcard with an encouraging message through the mail. Write about it and link up with us on the first of every month! That's it! New friends and snail mail? What more could you ask for?! Last month we had 130 people from 30 countries sign up! I can't wait to see the outcome this month! See below for even more info.

Guys, I've been like a child on Christmas Eve teacher waiting for summer vacation (because we all know that's worse) waiting to see all of your SMC posts. I've already seen a few pop up here and there and I can't tell you how excited it makes me! This is such a great way to meet and connect with bloggers from around the world! (I've already found several new blogs through this! Whoop!) And besides, who can say no to some good ol' fashioned snail mail? Sadly, my package hasn't made it to me yet, but I assure you that when it does, I'll be posting all about it! 

If you haven't received your package yet either, don't worry. We will be keeping this link up open for the next two weeks so you have plenty of time to come back and link up when it arrives!

And now onto some other really exciting news! The sign up for round two is now open! If you weren't able to sign up the first time, or if you loved it so much that you want to join for another round, you can click the link below and send in your info! In celebration of there still being a little bit of summer left, the theme for August is 'Under the Sea'. Have fun with this one and interpret it any way that you want! This means that I can send the dried squid and anchovies snacks that are popular in Korea right? Who wants to be my partner now?! 

Before we get on to the sign up and the rules I was to send a huge thank you to everyone who tweeted, emailed, blogged and generally spread the world about this exchange! Without you guys it would just be me and Melyssa sending weird gifts from Korea and Japan back and forth to each other (which, while I admit that would be awesome, I love that there are so many other excited people taking part with us!) You guys rock and I can't wait to get started on the second round up. So let's get started! Click the link below to sign up for August!

Rules & Information

In order to participate in the Snail Mail Collective this August, please fill out this form. Filling out the form means you  commit to actively participating and following the rules below. 

1. You will be paired with one new person. We will do our best to make sure this person is from a different country, or at the very least, a different area of your country. We will strive for you to make international friends, but it's also nice to get to know the different parts of our own homeland.

2. Each month's gifts will have a theme. The theme for August is "Under the Sea." Get creative! Try to relate it back to your culture, if you can. 

3. Each month, we will be taking sign-ups until 22:00PST on the 7th day of the month. After that, the pairings will be posted on our blogs on the 9th or 10th of the month. Please check Lost in Travels or The Nectar Collective to find out who you're paired with.

4. You will have 72 hours to contact your partner (both partners must communicate together). If your partner does not respond within 72 hours, please e-mail Melyssa or Chelsea.

5. You will have about two weeks to get to know your partner. After that time, your gifts must be sent by the 22nd of the month.

6. Gifts: Your present(s) should not total more than $5. We want this project to be affordable for you, so think small, but meaningful. Also, all packages must include a postcard (preferable) or a letter to your partner. Motivate them, tell them all the beautiful things you learned about them this month, and make them feel special! We could all use a little encouragement, especially from our new friends.

7. Once you receive your gifts, we highly encourage you to write a blog post about your experience. Share what you gave, received, and learned through participating in the Snail Mail Collective and meeting your new buddy.

8. On the 1st of each month, we will hold a link-up on our blogs (The Nectar Collective & Lost in Travels) where you can share and link-up your SMC blog posts. This way, you can see how people around the world interpreted the theme, learn about other cultures, and meet even more new friends!

If you have any questions or concerns, please email Melyssa. I will be out of the country on vacation and won't have access to the internet. Poor Melyssa, I'll bring you back some Cambodian goods to make up for it!
*I apologize that I also won't be able to hop around and see all of your posts until after we get back from vacation but I can't wait to read them!

An InLinkz Link-up

Snail Mail Collective Partner Reveal!

It's time! It's time! I know I speak for both Melyssa and myself when I say that I am so excited to get started! We had a total of 130 participants from over 30 countries sign up! I'd say that's a pretty good first month! I just want to say a huge thank you to all of you who signed up, tweeted, and spread the word about this project. You make my heart feel so incredibly full! I'm so glad that so many of you are just as excited as we are about this! Connecting with others is one of my favorite things about blogging and I mean come on, who can say no to some god ol' fashioned snail mail?!

All right, enough of the mushy stuff, let's get started! Click on the page at the bottom of the page to see who your partner is!

Pairings are at the bottom of this post. Please take a moment to read the rules of this program and to figure out what to do next: 

1. The theme for this month is to introduce where you live - what's special about it?

2. You have 72 hours to communicate with your partner. If your partner does NOT respond within 72 hours, please e-mail Melyssa at info@thenectarcollective.com to be re-paired by 11pm PST on July 12th. Re-pairing requests will not be taken after this time.

3. You have about two weeks to get to know your partner. After that, your package MUST be sent by July 22nd. 

4. Your gift(s) should total no more than $5. Think small, but meaningful. Also, all packages must include a postcard (preferable) or a letter to your partner. Motivate them, tell them all the beautiful things you learned about them this month, and make them feel special!

5. Once you receive your gifts, we highly encourage you to write a blog post about your experience. Share what you gave, received, and learned through participating in the Snail Mail Collective and meeting your new buddy. At the beginning of each month, we will hold a link-up on our blogs (The Nectar Collective & Lost in Travels) where you can share and link-up your SMC blog posts. This way, you can see how people around the world interpreted the theme, learn about other cultures, and meet even more new friends!!

6. We did our best to pair you with someone from a different country. If your partner is from the same country as you, then we tried to put you with someone from a different state or region. If you didn't get an international partner, we hope you understand and still have a blast building a friendship with someone new! That's what this is all about, right? 

Snail Mail Partners

If you didn't sign-up for this round, but want to participate next month, look out for next month's sign-up form which will be posted on The Nectar Collective and Lost in Travels on August 1st. We'd love for you to join us!

BIG NEWS! Announcing the Snail Mail Collective

This blogging community can be pretty great. I mean, I don't want to give you a big head or anything, but ya'll (yes, I'm from the south, it had to come out sometime) are amazing. You are a large reason of why I continue this blog of mine. Yes, I love writing and documenting our world travels, but it is the connections that I have made with other bloggers that I love the most.

That is why I'm teaming up with one of the sweetest girls in blogland, Melyssa, from The Nectar Collective to bring you all an international package exchange. Our goal is to provide an avenue to connect and get to know people from all over the world by exchanging packages and postcards each month. This is a great way to not only meet people around the world, but to also learn about new cultures and make new friends! Interested in joining us? Read the rules below and let's get started!

Rules & Information

In order to participate in the Snail Mail Collective this July, please fill out this form. Filling out the form means you commit to actively participating and following the rules below.

1. You will be paired with one new person. We will do our best to make sure this person is from a different country, or at the very least, a different area of your country. We will strive for you to make international friends, but it's also nice to get to know the different parts of our own homeland.

2. Each month's gifts will have a theme. The first theme (for July) is to introduce where you live - what's special about it?

3. Each month, we will be taking sign-ups until the 7th day of the month. After that, the pairings will be posted on our blogs on the 9th or 10th of the month. Please check Lost in Travels or The Nectar Collective to find out who you're paired with.

4. You will have 72 hours to contact your partner (both partners must communicate together). If you're partner does not respond within 72 hours, please e-mail Melyssa or Chelsea.

5. You will have about two weeks to get to know your partner. After that time, your gifts must be sent by the 22nd of the month.

6. Gifts: Your present(s) should not total more than $5. We want this project to be affordable for you, so think small, but meaningful. Also, all packages must include a postcard (preferable) or a letter to your partner. Motivate them, tell them all the beautiful things you learned about them this month, and make them feel special! We could all use a little encouragement, especially from our new friends.

7. Once you receive your gifts, we highly encourage you to write a blog post about your experience. Share what you gave, received, and learned through participating in the Snail Mail Collective and meeting your new buddy.

8. At the beginning of each month, we will hold a link-up on our blogs (The Nectar Collective & Lost in Travels) where you can share and link-up your SMC blog posts. This way, you can see how people around the world interpreted the theme, learn about other cultures, and meet even more new friends.